Announcements

Isn’t that such a weird thing to say? Maybe it’s just me but part of me, when urged to do just that, wonders, “Huh? What does that even mean?” I control this thing, I’m driving the ship here, pretty sure my body is going to listen to me. Right?

Nah.

As some of you may know, I recently traveled to my fine home state of Kentucky. Side note: I went to celebrate my nephew’s 1st birthday and y’all. He. Is. The. Cutest. See photo attached. Cue the ooos and awwws. And also, you’re welcome.

Anywho, two days prior I got pretty sick. Sick enough to consider canceling my trip. After much debate I decided to tough it out and make the trek. Let’s be honest, I’d do anything for that little nugget. #auntlife

With a late flight arrival in My Old Kentucky Home (See what I did there? Probably not… it’s a song. Google it. Or watch the Kentucky Derby, you’ll hear it!) it was easy to pass out almost instantaneously. However, the next day I found myself sending my sister out to run errands alone that morning so I could sleep a little later, falling asleep on the couch mid afternoon for about an hour, and then dosing off during an evening movie when I was supposed to be helping with party decor. The next day was no different, I slept late that morning and I’m pretty sure the sun was up when I went to bed that evening. Not only did I snag copious amounts of sleep, but I worked out approximately zero times during my time at home. That’s reason enough to stick the back of your palm on my forehead, raise a confused brow and say, “Are you ok?”

Here’s the lesson. Lean in because it’s enlightening and borderline revolutionary. Apparently, when you fall asleep at random times during the day, your body is trying to tell you something, mainly, that you need to sleep. (Maybe listen a little closer next time, Erica.)

All jokes aside, my encouragement today is just to tune in. I know it’s weird but how do you feel? Like, right now? When you move, does your body resist? Are you lethargic and unenthused when it’s time to workout? When you rest, does your body overdose? Do you feel like you just can’t get enough? Maybe not, maybe movement energizes you. Then keep moving! Rest is always essential but maybe your body is up no problem when that alarm goes off. Then get up and go! Just promise me that you’ll keep checking in, keep listening, because those signs and signals are there and always changing.

Spoiler alert. You are only human and many times, as humans, we are at the mercy of our circumstances and busy schedules, our ever-changing emotions (just me?), and the chemicals that balance and unbalance within us. Take time to check in, take time to rest if that’s what you need. You only have you, and you’re a pretty important part of living the life you want to live, fulfilling the dreams and desires your heart has. Take care of you boo!

Hey friends! As we head into the next strength cycle, jerks, I wanted to pass along an article I found that offered a new perspective and prescription on pain. For those of you that have shoulder issues or injuries, this is for you! If not, the value will be more from a preventative standpoint.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. If any of you out there are over 30 like me, (or have just beat up your bodies along the way) you may have experienced a similar struggle. As of late, my shoulder has been giving me a pesky pull in a loaded overhead position. In an effort to pinpoint the pain and it’s cause, I had Coach Gen take a look. What she saw was slight tick of internal rotation of the shoulder when under heavier loads. It’s something that tends to happen with instability and improper activation of the surrounding muscles. The Crossover Symmetry system has been my lifeline the last few weeks, in order to train my mechanics into proper position and activation. In researching the system and its benefits, I came across this article. Definitely worth the read and worth testing out the Crossover Symmetry, whether it is to retrain and alleviate pain or to be proactive to prevent it.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a video from Gen and Tim on how to set it up, what you should be focusing on and feeling, and how to get the most benefit out of it.

Yesterday I made an announcement to the five people who were participating in Open Gym at the time. After getting their attention, I’m sure quite obnoxiously, I proclaimed with great pride, “I’m going to run.”

May not sound like much, but if you’ve been around me in the gym for more than five seconds you know that I have a hate/hate relationship with hitting the pavement. I hate running, running hates me. We’re good with it, it works for us. Or so I thought.

The last few weeks I’ve felt an inkling of a conviction that maybe this whole running thing should get a second thought. Maybe it’s all this silly talk from coach Tim about “running season” in our programming. It’s initiated some internal dialog for me regarding training and truly investing in my weaknesses.

Let’s be honest, I would love a workout with some heavy clean and jerks, some rowing, some kettlebell swings… those movements are money in the freakin’ bank for me. But what happens when we leave out all the movements we hate is extremely narrow training that has extremely narrow benefit, both physically and mentally. And we might think we want narrow training, but who wants narrow benefits? Not me. Not only would we never get any better at said movements from a physicality standpoint, we would never experience the benefits of enduring through challenges and failures and reaching success only after much diligence and dedication. That shit builds character y’all, not just in the gym, but in life.

So why do we hate and avoid certain movements? Apart from physical restrictions (mobility, work capacity, strength deficiency, etc.), more than likely it’s our pride. We don’t like to feel insufficient or less than capable. So we avoid these things at the cost of potentially gaining the strength and skill we need over time and discipline. I experienced a very similar conviction a few months ago regarding heavy front squats. I hate them, and was avoiding them, because they are hard and make me feel insecure in my ability. Who likes to feel like they can’t do something or do it well? But I realized avoiding them was only worsening the problem.

So what do we do? We take initiative. Hear me say, this isn’t easy. Liken it to approaching that severed relationship in life that you know you need to make right. Or setting up boundaries to avoid spending too much money or drinking too much alcohol… whatever the issue may be. That takes admitting the problem, and then putting time and work into a solution. I’m tired just thinking about it.

Eventually, with front squats, I came face to face with my inability and hopped on the coach Dylan train to get my heinie on a squat program. If I hadn’t taken the initiative, my squats would probably be exactly the same today. Doable, but with no hope for progressing or gaining the strength I need. What we need to do is force ourselves to hang out at or near our point of breakdown. Train it, improve it. And then we push that line back over time, little by little, and things become easier. That’s why we train the way we do (you see it most clearly in working with percentages in strength cycles).

But now it’s time for me to take the initiative with one of my biggest foes. Running. I’m not happy about it, and that’s ok. I want the benefit of growth, to be a well conditioned athlete because I worked at it and for it.

So WHEN you catch me running, say hi, run a lap with me or simply encourage me to keep going because I can guarantee you I am fighting the internal battle of wanting to quit, and probably cussing up a storm in my head. What do you need to intentionally spend time on? Where do you need help or accountability? Or asked better, what are you avoiding in the gym? Why? How can you take the initiative to actually improve instead of avoid?

Stop being a fitness masochist or what I like to call an: “Exer-submissive”

Beating your body into submission is not healthy. Going to war on your fat is not good for you long term. There is no enemy inside of you that you need to defeat and punish. It is not your (or your coach’s) job to exact retribution on yourself.

There are varying degrees of ‘Exer-submissives’ in the fitness realm, but I feel like there is an inordinate amount that gravitate toward CrossFit (and Bootcamps for that matter). I expect that most people who exercise regularly have a set point in their personality that says: “Oh boy. I am really going to need to work hard in the gym tomorrow because of that”, or “I need to go on a long run to make up for that”. A little of this is fine, it can help people stay on track and possibly even avoid the temptation in the first place by turning it on its head: “I had better not, I don’t want to have to work extra hard in the gym tomorrow. I am already working hard enough!”

For some people, this inclination of repentance takes a much larger and dangerous role. It becomes a manifestation of the disappointment and self loathing that one feels after doing something ‘bad’.

People who take this to the extreme are not only looking to do extra work because they ‘cheated’ or missed a few days of training, they have sense that they need to be punished. They need to suffer. Pain is mandatory, and the longer the better. Bonus points if a coach or authority figure is there to yell and push even more.

There are probably a multitude of avenues to get to this mindset (upbringing at home, religion, work, biology, etc), but primarily I think it stems from two opinions:

You are at war with an internal enemy (you aren’t).

The misinterpretation that PAIN = RESULTS always (It doesn’t).

The pain during a particularly long and terrible workout, the pain of the soreness that lasts days, the pain of torn hands, the pain of jump rope lashes, rope burn on the leg, and even the pain from a lacrosse ball placed in the ‘right’ spot are NOT signs that you are making any progress. Do not get these signals confused with results! These are not weapons to use against the devious enemy inside of you who is trying to stop you from reaching your goals.

This confusion of pain and results is probably the most common and most dangerous part of CrossFit. Discomfort and pain are unavoidable symptoms of hard training, but better, faster, results come from smart programming and adequate recovery. Training ‘hard’ but not ‘smart’ is the surest way to injury, stagnation, and wasting inordinate amounts of time and money. Joint injuries, mild rhabdo cases, disruptions to training plans/programs are what come from the hard, painful, workouts – Not progress. Nowhere is this more evident than the ease at which it is to make a ‘hard’ workout (nausea inducing, hand tearing, sore-for-4-days…) that earns you nothing, results or performance-wise. Compare that to the difficulty of creating a workout that maybe ‘hard’ while it is happening, but it doesn’t take an excessively long time, leaves your body intact, you can train again the next day, AND you are a healthier person and better athlete afterward.

Start paying attention to these thoughts of the ’10 Hail Marys’ workouts. Start asking yourself where the guilt is really coming from. Find out if you are trying to use pain and discomfort as a way to punish yourself for your transgressions. Try and direct that ‘need for correction’ into organizing a better meal plan for the next week and/or being extra consistent on your training for the next few days.

Shift your view of your other self from ‘enemy’ to ‘impetuous child’. You don’t need to beat your body into submission; you need to set it up for success. You don’t need to go to war with your fat; you need to out-smart it. There is no enemy inside of you, there is a part of you that needs to be taught and lead down the right path.

And if you find yourself having the ‘Exer-submissive’ thoughts again, stop and ask yourself what emotions are you really trying to erase. Then figure out how to fix the real problem so you can stop punishing yourself.

Alright, believe it or not – accept it or not – we are a fourth of the way through 2018. (Even though it feels like it just started yesterday.) The New Year is always the cliche time to talk about goals and what you want to do differently throughout the course of the year, and we did. We even made those resolutions tangible here in the gym on our goals board. But do you ever intentionally check back in on those goals and your progress toward them? I think if we did, we probably wouldn’t find ourselves setting the same goals, making the same resolutions, year after year.

So now is that time. Now is the time to think about the goals you set three months ago. Maybe they were goals in the gym, maybe they were lifestyle changes, priorities that needed to change. Whatever they might be, where are you now? Are you closer to reaching those goals? What have you done to create movement? Where have you succeeded? Where is there opportunity?

For me, my goals were to dial in my nutrition, more specifically through counting macros (I have been a long time calorie counter), and to diligently prioritize and improve squats and Olympic lifts. Here’s my honest assessment of both, in hopes that this fine community would continue to encourage and support me, but also hold me accountable when distractions and discouragement threaten. And I’m ready to do the same for you!

In regard to nutrition, I have definitely made progress, specifically with the use of Avatar and MyMacros+. However, that progress has stalled at times leaving me with still a long way to go. Anyone else find themselves letting the circumstances of life derail their best intentions? Even when I have meals planned and logged, the last minute invite for tacos and margaritas will get me every time! While I believe that’s ok at times (let’s agree to enjoy life a little bit!), my big picture progress toward my goals has to remain a priority. The difference comes down to how I feel each time measurement day comes around. If I’m disappointed in myself, knowing I could have easily done better, I know I let this goal take the back seat to life. In contrast, there are weeks when weigh in comes and I know I enjoyed life and made tangible progress. That’s the sweet spot that I need to find consistently.

I’m happy to report that when it comes to squats and Olympic lifts, thanks so Coach Dylan and the Olympic lifting squad that works tirelessly in that back corner, I’ve improved these lifts tremendously. Do I love squatting? No. But I don’t hate it anymore. Not to mention, both my front and back squat have improved, and I’ve set new PRs on both my snatch and my clean and jerk. There are days that have been extremely difficult and discouraging, but pushing through those days is an important part of the journey. I’m excited to continue to work hard and make even more progress.

So where you are? Maybe your goals need to be reset and refocused, and that is ok. Maybe you are knocking one goal after another out, keep at it! Wherever you are, know that community is the absolute best context to pursue your goals. You have people cheering you on and people that are here to help (talk to your coaches!). Let’s get after it, together, and accomplish great things.

If I’m honest with you today, on Wednesday March 28th, 2018, I have to say I’m really not mad to see the 2018 Open come to a close. While it was a great test of strength and skill, I for one am more aware than ever that I have plenty to work on in the coming year… and I’m excited to get started. It really only took 18.3 to get me to the point of realizing the extent of my weaknesses and limitations (I think I’m in good company there, with all but two people in the entire world), so the final two workouts, for me, served as reminders. Reminders that I have come so so far… but still have so far to go. (humbling, right?!) Here’s a recap on the final two workouts, and my experience with both.

18.4

21-15-9

Deadlift

Handstand Push up

Then,

21-15-9

Deadlift (increase wt.)

with 50 ft. Handstand Walk between each set

Before I tackled 18.4 I said to a fellow athlete, “I’m going to scale the gymnastics and RX the weight… because that’s the kind of athlete I am.” Unfortunately it’s true, my strength is lopsided opposite my gymnastics skill. I know this. I think part of me tries to hide it in the midst of regular days and workouts. But the Open makes it blatantly obvious to me and to the rest of the world (Honestly, the rest of the world probably isn’t paying much attention but that’s the feeling I get. Anyone else?). So before the buzzer started on this workout, I knew somewhere in the thousands of goals I have for moving better this next year would have to be handstand work.

I actually impressed myself with my performance here. Coming off of a recent back injury, I was apprehensive to pull the heavier weight, and pull it well. However, when the time came, I was unhurried and focused on form and technique coming off the ground. Form truly did dictate my pace, and for that I am grateful to remain on the other side of this injury. Even in the heat of competition, the maturity to be smart, to pace where and when it’s crucial to our long term health and wellness, is invaluable. This workout was tough, the volume, both weight and reps, were absolutely exhausting. Go us!

18.5

3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18… etc. (increase by 3 reps each round)

Thruster

Chest-to-bar pull ups

And then there’s 18.5. I voted for it and then when it came time to do it, immediately regretted that and every other decision in my life. Guys, we had a chance to completely avoid thrusters and we passed it up. What were we thinking?!?! At this point, my excitement and motivation for these workouts had gone out the window completely and it became more about finishing a commitment and getting a completion point for my team. And you know what? I think that’s ok. I committed to these workouts alongside a great, crazy group of friends and athletes, and I wanted to finish strong for them. Now, could I have done better performance-wise? Yes, I think so. (I’m pretty sure I took a minute rest somewhere in there and should have brought my folding chair over from the weightlifting corner!). But it was about finishing and I’m proud that I did, regardless of the fact that I had mentally checked out. Honestly, I was ready to get back to weightlifting and seeing through my commitment there.

So I would challenge you today, now that the dust has settled, reflect on these last five weeks. Reflect on the workouts, the movements and your performance, yes, but also on your character throughout this Open season. How you committed (or didn’t) to these workouts and to the competition here at CFA (which got a little heated, can I get an amen?!), on how you rallied together with your community (or didn’t) and how you persevered and finished strong (or didn’t). Hopefully there are things that leave you feeling encouraged and proud, but also elements of character that you can grow and intentionally cultivate moving forward. At times competition brings out the best in us. At times, the worst. What comes out under pressure is a great indicator of what’s really inside us. So let’s walk away with lessons to push us forward as athletes in a crazy sport, but also as humans in a crazy world.

Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for! For 5 weeks we’ve worked with our teams to gain points towards being crowned the winner of the Inaugural CrossFit Austin Intramural Open. There were a lot of laughs, some tears, some friends (and some frenemies) made, but here we are and we’ve all made it out alive!

If you gained NOTHING else out of this year’s Open, we hope that you gained a better sense of community within these walls. Yes, we are a CrossFit gym and we want to test our fitness, gauge and improve from year to year, and see where we stack up. But, we hope that you learned a little more about yourself than how many reps you could get in seven minutes.

About half way through this, we were talking about competition and character. I’ve heard people say competition builds character… but Tim made a good point that it also reveals character. We hope that whatever the IMO revealed for you helps and guides you forward in whatever comes next.

Ok, blah blah blah…. On to the points. Who won? So this week was a wild one. We’re going to give you a break-down of the points awarded and how things came to stack up.

The Funky Skunks –

This week Sayyed scored 2 points for his team with a heartfelt act of kindness that is continuing to grow. Sayyed fed and talked to a man named Mike who was “a good man in a bad situation.” After getting to know him a bit more, he’s connected him with Jose who works to help place the homeless in jobs and homes. Let’s all send good vibes that it pans out for Mike! Good work Sayyed.

Jose gained a whopping 20 points for his team by making 2 mascot steals at FNL. We could argue that it was a dick move and since this was #dontbeadick week we COULD have deducted 2 points…. But we didn’t. 😛 ALSO – y’all are killing me. These hashtags aren’t that hard! Since when did your team drop #teamfunkyskunks and start making up your own hashtags? That one was NOT included in the mascot steal post so if we’re getting into the nitty-gritty…. But, that 20 point swing makes it more interesting for sure.

Moving on from these damn mascots… Since no team was successful in getting 75% (10 people) of their team together for an outing, we chose to award points for how many of their team members DID make it. The Skunks gained 8 points for this past weekend’s axe throwing outing. Again…. Why did none of you post a picture of your group outing???? But… you still get the points for this one because I have the proof on my phone.

These combined with the participation and other weekly points gained the Skunks a collective 69 points for the week.

Hedge Of Allegiance –

After leaving their Hog to be taken care of by a dog…. The hogs lost some ground this week.

I will say this team definitely has some big players in regards to the fitness side of things. Their 3 major players, Aaron, Rob, and Jenni managed to score 3 points for their team all 5 weeks for being 3 of the 4 top athletes.

Ashley’s act of kindness came in liquid form with a coffee to her coach. It’s the little things sometimes, ya know?

In the spirit of closing the chapter on the mascot debacle… we’re showing an act of kindness to the red team and giving them their 10 points from the 2 previous steals…. But… those are lost again anyway because they did not successfully recover their mascot from the Skunks which means 10 points deducted….

We are still not entirely sure how these guys all ended up together on a blind draw, but we know that morning crew is solid through and through.

Combined with their participation, etc… the red team earned themselves 32 points for the week.

The Trash Pandas –

The blue team has consistently been in the lead from week to week by keeping themselves relevant on the internet and doing goofy shit to win the team spirit awards. If nothing else, there were some pretty hilarious photos that came out of this one.

Page showed Coach E some kindness this week as well (girl made out like a bandit!) by bringing a special cookie just for her. You should all know he donated all those amazing cups/cookies/drinks to our FNL for 18.5 as well. Solid kindness from that dude. Thank him by going to chow at Henbit! (shameless plug – his food is amazing).

Stacey, the 4th of the top 4 pulled another point for the blue this week. Not only is she our top female, she’s 92 worldwide and 6th in the region in her division! Damn girl! We’re all still #ChasingStacey. Now we get to cheer her on through the qualifiers!

The Trash Pandas were the other team with a specially organized outing. They spent an awesome day at the park slacklining, grilling, and getting strangers to do burpees with them. They had a few tag-alongs, but ended up with 7 points for their team member presence at that outing.

Collectively, the Trash Pandas pulled in 46 points for the week.

The final standings:

While it was an extremely close call…… The Trash Pandas are walking away with the championship for the 2018 CrossFit Austin Intramural Open.

The Trash Pandas – 249 overall points

The Funky Skunks – 247 overall points

Hedge of Allegiance – 200 overall points

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated this year. It was a first for us and we are FILLED with love and gratitude for the support and the turnout we had. It was a massive amount of work and we’ve definitely learned some lessons so that we can continue to grow and make it better in the years to come, but it doesn’t happen with you guys. So thank you.

Now… let’s get on with our lives without imaginary points for a few weeks! We’ll play again on May 4th with Night of Champions || Bar Wars. Get those Co-Ed partners and get ready!

CFA has been immersed in the Open for the last 4 weeks. We’ve lived and breathed it. Talked about it every day. Thought about it moment by moment… In just 5 days we will be wrapping up the 2018 Open. All scores will be posted. We’ll have done & re-done 5 weeks of some of the most intense workouts many of us have ever done. We’ll have hit PRs, but also major roadblocks.

Many of us will spend the next few weeks looking back and talking about the wild standards and how crazy some of the workouts were. Those of us that participated in CFA’s first Intramural Open will be talking about the challenges, the friends we made within our teams, and the AMAZING videos that Julia put out each week… But how many of you will look back on the moments of opportunity and see them as so? How many of you will leave those opportunities in the midst of the Open and wait for them to resurface next year?

Yes, there was that WOD you couldn’t do RX because you don’t have ring muscle ups… or the one that you know you could have done better if you could only clean a little more weight… Whatever it was, we all had a moment that exposed a weakness and I see WAY more value in that than smoking a workout and moving on with life. It’s those moments that help us determine where to go next. We all have that rabbit we’re after, but if you don’t focus on going after it you’re never going to catch it. I promise if you just sit and wait for that rabbit to run by again next year, you’re going to still be watching it’s fluffy little butt pass you by.

Although some magical things can happen during the Open, we can’t rely on that annual excitement to truly develop the skill. My challenge to you this year is to make a list of your opportunities from this year’s Open. What weaknesses did you find? What would you like to improve on? Once you’ve made that list, let’s talk about it. Let’s make a plan and get some drills going so that you can achieve some of those things and turn those weaknesses into strengths! You have coaches and sessions available for precisely that reason. We want to help you improve so *cough cough* let us help you!

The other thing I challenge you to do is to keep this fire going! I’ve seen this community do some amazing things over the last 5 weeks! We’ve had people jump in to help, no questions asks. I’ve seen you cheer each other on to the ends of the earth. I’ve seen people getting together outside of classes to help each other and just to hang out. On top of that I’ve seen a bigger drive and focus in many people’s training. More questions are being asked in class and you guys have been taking bigger steps to improve.

Don’t let this flame die out just because the Open is coming to an end. Let us see what kind of things you’re capable of all year long!

Whether you’re doing IMO or not, please join us this Friday for our final Friday Night Lights with 18.5. We’re going out with a bang with DJ Kay Cali, Airrosti, and bites from Henbit. BYOB and come cheer on your friends for 18.5. See you there!

Let’s talk about all the double unders in the entire world put into one workout.

Let’s talk about the fact that only two people in the world finished it.

Let’s talk about all the great PRs that were set for many, after years of diligent practice and hard work.

But let’s also talk about how frustrating it was for a lot of us to see this workout announced movement by movement.

I’m with you. I was SAAAAAAAALTY post WOD announcement last week. I admittedly gave into the temptation to be frustrated that this workout would expose my weaknesses and my inabilities, that it would alienate me and thousands of other CrossFitters who just aren’t there yet from participating in the competitive spirit of the Open last week. Being unable to perform even one rep of a movement in a workout forces me to scale and/or modify, and consequently disregard the workout as a whole. Anyone else? I end up telling myself, “It doesn’t matter anyways.”

Wrong guys. That is all wrong. But it’s so hard not to think that way, right?!?

Here’s what I realized.

I don’t know about you but I am my own worst critic. I’m frustrated by my failures and shortcomings, discouraged by any set backs, and horribly competitive with myself and others. Sometimes, if I’m really honest, I flirt with giving up altogether. But when I step back, take a look at what is really important, I realize there is so much to be learned in the long haul. So much that it makes it better for us to wrestle with things, to struggle and come out on the other side.

This journey that we call CrossFit is not for the faint of heart. We have to work hard, show up, stay consistent, but also and maybe most importantly, give ourselves grace along the way. Let bumps and bruises motivate us.

The other thing I had to realize last week was that it’s not just about me. Turns out I’m being pretty selfish when I get caught up in my own ability or inability with no regard for what’s going on in the lives of those around me. Those that, with their own weaknesses to battle, show up and work hard right alongside me. Why would I not be grateful for those dang ring muscle ups being in that workout simply to witness and celebrate the accomplishments of my friends, and maybe one day, they will celebrate with me. These are my people, my fellow warriors. Man, I want to witness more moments like I did on Friday night and not be blinded by a bad attitude because I have more work to do.

So this week, let’s change perspective. Let’s find something in this workout, whatever it might be, to attack with everything we have but remind us that this is a journey. But let’s also find something to cheer on and celebrate with someone else. Let’s all take on THAT perspective this week. One that looks outside ourselves and into the lives of others. Let’s admire and encourage and challenge each other. After all, that’s what this whole community thing is about.

Recent WOD’s

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